tion from the one
to the other state.

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, which presents
the best estimate which can be formed, from the documents in that
Department, of the number of Indians within our States and Territories
and of the amount of lands held by the several tribes within each; of
the state of the country lying northward and westward thereof, within
our acknowledged boundaries; of the parts to which the Indian title has
already been extinguished, and of the conditions on which other parts,
in an amount which may be adequate to the object contemplated, may be
obtained. By this report it appears that the Indian title has already
been extinguished to extensive tracts in that quarter, and that other
portions maybe acquired to the extent desired on very moderate
conditions. Satisfied I also am that the removal proposed is not only
practicable, but that the advantages attending it to the Indians may be
made so apparent to them that all the tribes, even those most opposed,
may be induced to accede to it at no very distant day.

The digest of such a government, with the consent of the Indians,
which should be endowed with sufficient power to meet all the objects
contemplated--to connect the several tribes together in a bond of amity
and preserve order in each; to prevent intrusions on their property;
to teach them by regular instruction the arts of civilized life and make
them a civilized people--is an object of very high importance. It is
the powerful consideration which we have to offer to these tribes as
an inducement to relinquish the lands on which they now reside and
to remove to those which are designated. It is not doubted that this
arrangement will present considerations of sufficient force to surmount
all their prejudices in favor of the soil of their nativity, however
strong they may be. Their elders have sufficient intelligence to discern
the certain progress of events in the present train, and sufficient
virtue, by yielding to momentary sacrifices, to protect their families
and posterity from inevitable destruction. They will also perceive that
they may thus attain an elevation to which as communities they could not
otherwise aspire.

To the United States the proposed arrangement offers many important
advantages in addition to those which have been already enumerated.
By the establishment of such a government over these tribes with
their consent we become in reality their benef